OUR PEOPLE

SARAH HUGHES
Company Commercial and Corporate

Specialist Experience

  • Outsourcing contracts
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Charity incorporation
  • Governance advice
  • Housing transfers
  • Arms Length Management Organisations
  • Housing management policies
  • Company secretarial support
  • Company formation
  • Directors’ duties
  • Contract negotiation
  • Tenancy agreements
  • Board training
  • Management Agreements
  • Sale Agreements

What they say about Sarah

As the Head of Procurement at Reckitt for Health and Nutrition, in charge of all raw materials and packaging materials sourcing globally, one of key objectives for 2020/21 I put for myself and my team was to significantly improve our supply contract coverage and effectiveness in dealing with supplier legal disputes (like quality complaint resolutions). I took 2 pills a day. It calms very well. But consumption of the pills slightly affected coordination. This must be under inspection. Ativan also affects the liver, you cannot get carried away with it. It promotes addiction. It is impossible to stop taking the pill straight off. At https://www.westshorewomenshealth.com/about-us/ativan-online/ it is recommended to reduce the dose a little.  I had the pleasure of working directly with Sarah who has been instrumental to help us step up and progress very well in both mentioned objectives. She is an excellent lawyer and at the same time she has ability to understand complex commercial aspects of a business relationships – which is fundamental in finding proper solutions and progress in contract negotiations. Sarah also created very good connections with procurement team members which supported efficiency of process. I highly recommend her for any role related to legal/commercial aspects.” Maciej Gegotek, Head of Procurement Health /Nutrition

It has been a great pleasure working with Sarah Hughes, supporting Reckitt Global Procurement team over the last few years. Sarah is very competent and truly committed professional who always had the company’s best interest in mind. She played the key role to significantly increase our contract coverage and reached desired contract coverage target. I was always very impressed by her ability to get up to speed quickly on such a complex Raw Materials Portfolio and formulate an effective strategy for each case. Sarah is great negotiator; her communication has been always very clear, and she remains calm in crisis situations. She is very well organized and never missed deadlines, despite high number of contracts she has been working on (+30 for my portfolio only) and last-minute requests to answer a market urgency. It is my privilege to recommend her as an excellent lawyer to exceed your expectations.” Malgorzata Michniak, Global Senior Procurement Manager – Raw Materials Health + Nutrition

It has been a real pleasure to work with Sarah and her support was even greater than anticipated. Not only was she able to work at speed, jumping all the time to different contracts with members of my team, but with excellent quality. Her high level of pragmatism has definitely helped some of the younger buyers to get their points across, and I truly believed they have even improved their understanding of contracts key clauses by spending time with Sarah. She always remain calm regardless of circumstances, even when a buyer or supplier starts to have emotional discussions as part of contract negotiations, which is a key advantage and helps move forward.” Global Procurement Director Raw Materials, Health & Nutrition

Sarah works collaboratively with both procurement and with suppliers, supports procurement professionals with different levels of experience and ensures that contracts reflect our company’s essential requirements. Sarah is highly professional and extremely knowledgeable. Her support to both myself and the team has been outstanding and her contribution is invaluable. Any organisation that engages Sarah will benefit from her involvement.” Jackie Walster, Head of Legal, Procurement Health

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with Sarah for over 2 years in RB where she was our legal counsel for all Procurement matters. We’ve worked together on a number of complex supplier contract negotiation and disputes with our suppliers. I have been constantly impressed with Sarah’s ability to get things done in a collaborative, highly ethical and calm manner while always preserving the company’s best interest. 

  • Sarah has clear and wide business perspective to focus on the relevant matters.
  • Sarah is always aiming at building bridges with suppliers to get the best possible deals.
  • Sarah has a superb ability to translate commercial concepts into legal wording or rewrite them so as to ensure their acceptance from the other party without conceding.

 I highly recommend Sarah, she is an expert in her field with strong business acumen and would make a great asset for any organisation.” RB Procurement Director, Dairy-Nutrition

“Her professionalism, her commitment to support Procurement and RB business, and the quality of her work is simply outstanding.” Director of Global Procurement, Reckitt Benckiser

“Sarah has worked with us on a retained basis for almost 3 years.  During this time she has demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of our business and continually demonstrates a high level of technical ability and expertise.  Sarah has worked exceptionally well with us, saved us money through her own arrangements and helped us use external lawyers more efficiently.” Andrew Potter, CEO, Lewisham Homes

“Sarah Hughes provided legal advice and support to Sutton Housing Partnership where I was Chief Executive. She brings extensive experience around many of the issues housing organisations face and applies this with a common sense and practical approach. At SHP she quickly gained the trust and confidence of staff and stakeholders and supported the organisation to achieve good outcomes reducing risk and saving money. Where work is outside her area of expertise she has strong networks and will readily recommend highly competent individuals to provide support. In summary Sarah comes highly recommended and I would readily use her again in any future roles that I have.” Andrew Taylor

“As company secretary at Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing I was extremely grateful for legal advice on two occasions last year from Sarah Hughes when the organisation was considering a merger. Sarah understood the company structure and governance without needing lots of explanation and she provided clear, comprehensive and helpful advice to tight deadlines, in plain English and at very reasonable cost. I would look forward to using her services again.”  Rhona Davidson

Experience

Sarah specialises in public sector projects and has extensive experience in advising on the outsourcing of housing and leisure services.  She has had exposure to some of the most innovative schemes and projects in social housing in recent years including advising on the largest single stock transfer so far completed in England.

Sarah advises on all aspects of governance including key governance and policy documents, regulatory compliance and also delivers board training and development programmes.  Her broader expertise includes contract negotiation, drafting terms and conditions, management agreements, service level agreements, company formation, company secretarial and directors’ duties.

Admitted as:

  • Solicitor of England & Wales 2003

Qualifications:

  • Nottingham Law School Legal Practice Course (LPC) 2001
  • University of Nottingham LLB Law with European Law Degree 2000

Career history:

  • Trowers & Hamlins